Just before (if you’re heading towards Sydney) or after (if you’re heading towards Melbourne) Violet Town.
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I had little problems with the Watchem service on 97.7, The problem I have is the Flow FM further up the Calder with the 95.3 transmitter at Speed co-channeling with Shepparton 3SR. Their seriously needs to be something done about that
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I didn’t hear 95.3 Speed at Mount Waverley; it was 3SR aiming to the north and west with Coast FM (3YFM) Warrnambool taking over aimed to the south. The former 97.7 tx at Watchem couldn’t be heard at Mount Waverley due to 3SER Casey. I noticed that Flow FM’s stealth transmitter at Healesville (106.3) was running very low modulation also.
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Can pick this up on occasion from the other side of Melbourne, so not sure what deems it to be ‘stealthy’ as such
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Exactly what I meant by this; Flow FM obtains de-facto coverage into Melbourne due to an excellent LOS from Mount St Leonard, despite an ERP of 50 (100?) watts. The similar setup that Rebel/Breeze has on the Gold Coast isn’t exactly stealthy, though.
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24 watts in fact! But the coverage doesn’t extend very far into Melbourne’s eastern suburbs. Yes you can pick it up in high spots around the east, but it’s not going to be found when scanning on car radios.
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Yes, my experience with Flow FM in Melbourne is that it is low grade reception, worse than Geelong, probably worse than Ballarat and Bendigo too.
Still, with a little bit of effort you can receive it across much of metro Melbourne. I had it OK at Brighton Beach on the car radio and that’s not too far from the laneways and hook turns of the CBD. Not bad for a supposedly ‘remote’ area station 
.
I thought I was actually receiving Colac at Brighton given the enhancement to the SW at the time, but a check at Yarra Glen (in or close to the service area) revealed the same low modulation signal.
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I have posted my frustration of this in the past, 106.3 from Colac doesn’t carry all the way into Geelong, swamped by Flow at perhaps Winchelsea, would have to look at earlier comments.
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Getting faint ABC South West Slopes on all 5 freqs from 88.3 through to 91.5. No Hit 93.1 from the game show trig though.
Little else to report other than faint ABC News 103.9 Canberra and better than average Sydney and Wollongong stations.
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My experience was always that you kept Colac reception until Mt Moriac (heading east) but once you’re on the Geelong side of that it’s gone and Flow generally wins
Great to read all about your trip down south @dxnerd, and pleased that southern Australia tested even your love of cool climates! 
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I don’t even think Colac can be received in the hilly parts of the Ballarine such as Ocean Grove, Might have to check next time I head down there,
I know for sure that Bay and K Rock overloaded the SDR down there.
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I could never get it when I lived in Clifton Springs, definitely not here in Geelong either
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You’re there more than me, I would agree pretty much, good radios will get you Mt Moriac.
Yes, I enjoyed @dxnerd’s ‘travelogues’ , wonderful observations.
I wonder if the Mixx antenna is close to spec or towards the east actually a lot below the maximum allowed on paper?
The cold was refreshing and it was nice to travel without the scorching Aussie sun. The low-pressure system in Hobart was, in fact, more akin to a NSW coastal system. The strong westerly winds in Tassie, which seem to be getting worse as the climate warms, are another matter, though.
Re. 106.3 Colac, it’s always been weak to non-existent in Geelong as tamago can attest. It should respond to tropo enhancement though.
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Why does Nova100 come clear into Nagambie in Victoria when all Melbourne stations struggle all the way from Kilmore to Seymour on the Hume Freeway?
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It may be a quirk of my car radio, but I find 89.9 Light FM and Smooth 91.5 last the longest heading up north. The last sign of them is usually around Benalla or sometimes Glenrowan. Stations at the high end such as MMM and PBS fade a lot sooner as you allude to with consistent reception only lasting to the Tallarook service centre. I haven’t done the Goulburn Valley Highway as much but last October, I was getting Smooth/Classic/JJJ all the way to Tocumwal. There was probably some minor tropo enhancement at the time though a cool sou’wester was blowing.
As an aside, I thought I had FOX FM clearly at Tallygaroopna (between Shep and Numurkah) one January morning in 2001. Imagine my surprise when I heard ‘4MK’ instead! This was my first E-skip catch on FM. I also had 100.7 from Townsville (Sea FM at the time).
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For me I received Nova 100 in Beechworth near Albury on NYE 2016 on the car stereo. It was very weak and only received on south facing hills. I don’t know if there was some tropo enhancement that day or if that was normal reception. Could not receive any other Melbourne Fm stations.
Also when flying from Sydney to Melbourne Nova 100 is one of the first Melbourne Commercial Fm stations to be received in the plane. It is received before Fox. I guess Nova / Smooth fm’s transmitter site on Mt Dandenong must have better LOS to the north compared to Fox.
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That would be supported by physics - with signal strength theoretically stronger the lower the frequency, but as you say it could also be that the antenna on the car receives some frequencies better than others.
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Maybe Nova or Smooth use a different model transmitter that explains the different reception levels in some regions? As they all have pretty much the same specs otherwise.
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